Entry 328-3
Strike King’s Mark Rose’s $50,000 Bet That Paid Off
Editor’s Note: Mark Rose of Marion, Arkansas, fishes the FLW Tour, the FLW Stren Series (Central Division) and the PAA (Professional Anglers Association) tournament trail – a total of 20 tournaments each year. Rose has made the championship tournament for each of these trails. Entry fees and expenses for these 20 tournaments totaled about $50,000, and Rose was betting he not only could get his $50,000 back but also make enough money to take care of his family. Would you dig into your pocket and bet $50,000 that you could beat some of the best bass fishermen in the world in 20-different tournaments? Rose did. This week, we’ll learn what lures he bet-on this season and used to win.
Part 3: I Bet on the Strike King Burner Spinner Bait in Sexy Shad
Question: Okay, Mark, you’ve got the Shaky Head jig and the Football jig you use. What’s another lure that you’d add to your tackle box if you could take only three lures to every tournament you fish all across the country?
Rose: I’d have to say the Strike King Burner spinner bait in the sexy-shad color. Like the Shaky Head and the Football, I’d choose the Burner because it’s so versatile. It has smaller blades than the standard Strike King spinner baits, which means I can fish it in open water as well as around cover. I can fish it in both clear and off-color water. Even though some people don’t think you should fish a spinner bait in clear water, I’ve learned that since you can retrieve the Burner really fast, the bass won’t get a really-good look at the bait.
So, they’ll eat the Burner spinner bait in clear water. I can get a good reaction bite when I use the Burner. 
I like to fish it around cover, in stained water, in boathouses, just under the surface or let it sink down to catch suspended fish. In stained water, all I have to do is slow the Burner down. Then it’s as deadly, if not more so, than other spinner baits. I like to fish it on 20-pound-test Seaguar InvizX fluorocarbon with a 7-foot medium-heavy action rod and a spinning reel with a high gear ratio.
Although most people think of the Burner spinnerbait as being a clear-water, fast-moving spinner bait (which is the niche it has been designed for), with that 1/2-ounce size I can fish it on 15-pound-test line and slow-roll the Burner out on the ends of ledges and drop-offs. I fish it down to 12- or 15-foot-deep water. Oftentimes when Strike King creates a niche bait like the Burner spinner bait, we often forget that the lure has other applications. The Burner is still a spinner bait and can be productive almost anywhere you fish any spinner bait. 
However, the Burner is unlike any other spinner bait on the market.
For that reason, if you’re fishing behind another angler who’s using a spinner bait with either standard Colorado or willow-leaf blades, and you’re fishing the Burner spinner bait, those bass will see a different type of spinner bait with a different action than the spinner baits they’re accustomed to seeing. One of the things I’ve learned and that most of the other Strike King pros make a living doing is when you’re using a lure like the Burner spinner bait in a place and in a way it hasn’t been designed to be fished, you will catch the bass that other fishermen who only use that lure for one purpose won’t. I believe we’re just now beginning to discover just how versatile the Burner spinner bait can be.
